The warnings about MRC sound decoders are well founded. They not only have very poor quality control, they also don’t sound very good. I personally like the QSI Revolution but you won’t go wrong getting a Tsunami either. The Athearn engines themselves are very good, just get the DCC ready version and stick in your own sound decoder.
You made this posting of yours back in 2009, and I’m wondering if you had the opportunity to re-evaluate it at all over the years??
I have heard numerous such comments about MRC decoders for a few years now,…and in particular about their poor motor control and multiply failure rates. I see where MRC is still very much in the decoder market… still in (2013), and I wonder how that might be?.. if their decoders were so poor? Have they made significant improvements over the years?
More specifically does anyone have experience with this new ‘stereo’ decoder they are offering??
MRC stereo decoder 1902
Drop In Stereo Sound Decoder for E-8/9/PA
Adjustable back EMF load control w/ Ultra Slow Speed Control
16 Bit Sound Control w/ 16 Levels of sound volume
Dual out of snych EMD 567B Prime Movers for realistic operation
1.5 amp capacity
2 Different Prime Mover Sounds; EMD 567B/Alco 539T
Probrammable for either 2 digit (1-127) or 4 digit (1-9999) addresses
Programmable start voltage & top voltage
Go buy an MRC decoder and be happy with it. No one’s opinion should get in the way of your spending. However, the fact is that Athearn has dropped the MRC line if decoders because of the failure rate. The fact that no mfg actually supports MRC on the OEM side of things speaks volumes. They once did, but now Soundtraxx and Loksound has the lion’s share of the OEM market. Reliability aside, MRC has been eclipsed by every other mfg of sound decoders in terms of sound quality and accuracy. MRC is still around because of the low cost of their product, not because they make a quality product in any way. You have been now informed as to why we don’t use MRC under our hoods, now it is up to you what your time is worth. David B
Well said David! Really its about your budget, that is the one thing MRC has going for it is price point. but to Davids point. You get what you pay for.
I don’t need to explain anything else so… Happy modeling!
I wa rooting around today for info on a non-sound decoder choice for my first DC to DCC conversion (non-sound) but I came across this recent thread on sound decoders which I “favorite”-ed. It may be of help.
I have three MRC sound decoders and am very happy with them. I love them. They worked perfect right out of the package, and two have been going for more than five years now. I should note I model in N scale, and the diesels I have cannot accept Tsunami or other decoders.
People always say they want the “best” and “high quality” stuff, but history of consumer electronics proves that people really buy CHEAP. That is how MRC is staying in the market. Newbies and inexperienced purchasers see “sound”, look at the price and buy.
I think they sound fine, but, we have found they dont play well with Decoder Pro or JMRI. None of my friends engines with MRC boards in them will program on his programing track at the computer using Decoder Pro. Where as his QSI and Soundtraxx boards do just fine. I dont think he has any Loksound boards yet. I have 2 MRC (1 steam 1 diesel) that I programed using my NCE Powercab and they have done just fine over the past few years. Both are currerntly out of a model but I will be reinstalling the steam one shortly in a PFM brass engine. If one of the other brands could get their prices down to the MRC level while maintaining thier current quality levels, MRC would be out of business IMHO. Many modelers that use MRC would like to run other brands, but the higher price pushes them to take a chance on the MRC decoders. In the past year, I have only had 1 MRC decoder fail outright. I have had them loose thier programing and need to be reprogramed, but I have had that issue with Digitrax and TCS decoders from time to time as well. Cheers Mike
A person who recently moved to Arizona from Chicago brought several Athearn Genesis locomotives that he purchased when they were using MRC sound decoders, but he had never ran them.
The sound is okay, but motor control is horrible. Four of them surged, stalled, lurched, or ran so erratically that we had to piggy-back NCE or TCS decoders into them for motor control purposes and totally bypass the MRC motor drive circuitry.
These are the first MRC decoders we have encountered at our club because everyone has shunned them over the years due to their terrible reputation. TCS or NCE are our preferred motor and light control decoders, and Tsunami, QSI, or LokSound are our sound choices.
The last time I saw the pricing of newer MRC sound decoders they seem to be more expensive than the other brands.
One of the big issues with early MRC decoders was that they did not support ‘read back’ of the CV’s. You could ‘write’ to the CV, but you could not ‘read’ it to verify that it was written correctly. I have an Athearn Genesis MP15AC with the MRC sound decoder factory installed. It was impossible to program the address even on a Digitrax program track with a ‘booster’. I finally calculated the CV17/18/29 values and programmed them ‘on the main’.
I also have an Atlas NRE GenSet with a MRC decoder - install went fine, but the sound is really not correct for a GenSet. They advertise about ‘stereo’ sound - but do not provide dual speakers, and I cannot ofr the life of me understand how one can get ‘stereo’ in a model train engine. This is just the usual marketing hype you read in their magazine ads.
Until they get serious and address some of their known issues, I will not being buying any more of their DCC products.
I have several MRC sound decoders installed. One has been in service for 6-years and another nearly as long. Both have operated without problems.
Our Athearn Challenger came with an MRC sound decoder and worked fine for about a year and then just quit. No amount of tweaking would bring it back to life. I finally just replaced it with a Soundtraxx LC decoder.
Most of my self installed sound decoders are Soundtraxx DSD100 or 101LC decoders. I have a couple of DSX decoders installed as well. Only one failure out of nearly 20 installed. Too bad Soundtraxx discontinued the LC series of sound decoders.
I have a couple of BLI steamers with sound. A Hudson and a Mikado. Both have been in service for years and never given any trouble. I don’t believe their sound quality can be beat either.
I don’t have a Tsunami or ESU in my collection, yet. The next loco purchase will probably force me to break down and spend the money for one or the other.
For now, I am content with my slightly eclectic mix of sound decoders.
Back to the point. I have no complaints about MRC sound decoders. Those I have personally installed have operated without trouble for years. Maybe I’m just lucky.
I have to agre with Mike. I’m using MRC for two N Scale Kato F-3A units because they are drop ins. But, after much hair pulling and online discussion, I have been unable to modify the top speed setting of either. Which creates a problem, since I had planned on speed matching them to other decoder equiped F’s, so I had two sets with sound.
The sound is adequate and I’ll only have a couple of sound locos on the layout anyway.
I’m using Decoder Pro and a PR-3 for programming.
If I had another “easy” choice for the F units, I’d switch.
I use the MRC EMD 567 in one of my CF7s…It sounds ok and does the job but I use it in the DC mode on my MRC Tech 6 and I haven’t fooled with any of the CV sittings except the horn selection(CV50) and bell type(CV52) and the master volume F13.
I returned to the hobby after almost 6 or so years, had nscale and almost all digitrax, but decided HO this time, I started with MRC, honestly not knowing more or doing any research, figuring electronics is electronics. All my engines had MRC and at first I was pleased, but I heard a Loksound, saw how it was excellent at the motor control. I bought one for an Athearn engine, I was sold, now switching all MRC’s out to Loksound.
But I will say this, the MRC decoders don’t run bad, just not what I wanted, slow speed crawls, and after hearing a Lok, I have decided the sound files are cleaner. Could be me selling myself on the quality.
I won’t hate on MRC though, they have been my DC power pack of choice all the years in the hobby, and Frank at MRC is very responsive to any questions. So I give them an A+ for that type of service. There is a nitch for all DCC companies.
Actually, you are using it in DCC mode. When you are operating the Tech 6 in “dual” mode, you are operating it as a very limited DCC system. This actually brings up something else I don’t like about MRC, and that is their outrageous, sometimes misleading, advertising. For example they used to specifically advertise their “blackbox” technology as bringing out the sound in DCC lcocos without DCC(they have since changed the wording). No, their “blackbox” technology is DCC.
I purchased exactly one MRC sound decoder, just to see for myself if they really are as bad as some people say. Luckily I got it for a large discount. It runs, but compared to my go-to TCS motor decoders, the motor control is horrible. But even more so - the sounds are BAD. It’s supposed to be an Alco 244 but compared to others it doesn;t sound much liek one. ANd the horns are all muddled. Speaking of, it has some 16 different horns, selectable by CV - only no one, not even MRC tech support when I emailed them, can tell me which type of horn each one is supposed to be.
It is highly unlikely I will waste any money or time trying out these ‘new and improved’ MRC sound decoders. If you want cheap sound - Digitrax is much better than MRC< despite the MRC claim of being 16 bit sound whereas the Digitrax is 8 bit. Couple a Digitrax sound decoder with some of the much better executed sound projects (from members of the Digitraxsound Yahoo Group - some are now showing up in the Sound Depot) and you have better motor control and better sound. Still not as good as Loksound, but if you really need to keep the cost down… and MRC wants as much as Loksound, so if you are going to spend that much money, don;t waste it on MRC.
Actually, you are using it in DCC mode. When you are operating the Tech 6 in “dual” mode, you are operating it as a very limited DCC system. This actually brings up something else I don’t like about MRC, and that is their outrageous, sometimes misleading, advertising. For example they used to specifically advertise their “blackbox” technology as bringing out the sound in DCC lcocos without DCC(they have since changed the wording). No, their “blackbox” technology is DCC.
The Tech 6 has a DC and Dual( DCC) mode and its far advanced then what most realize.
By adjusting the start and top volt in DC you can actually speed match like brands…I speed match 2 Athearn RTR locomotives a GP38-2 and GP40-2 using P2=8…There is acceleration and deceleration momentum in the DC mode.
My P2K DC SW8 and P2K GP7 is set at P3=10(acceleration) and P4= 12(deceleration).The start volt is P2=3 and top volt is P5=7…
I also have a Athearn DC SW7 that is program P2=3,P3=8 and P4=9…P5=5.It only take seconds to program locomotives and I have a list of the DC settings for the locomotives I will be using on Slate Creek.
I use the Dual mode(DCC) with my Bachmann 70Tonner and only set the momentum and speed step.
MRC doesn’t recommend running a standard DC engine in the dual mode.
Though most of my engines are Loksound,QSI,or Tsunami,I have 3 UP 4-8-4s and 1 Challenger that came with MRC decoders(my first engines - I plead ignorance).They all ran,and sounded,awful. I put a QSI Titan in the Challenger,the 4-8-4s are boxed,awaiting new decoders. When running the MRC’s,the only realistic sound was the sound of wailing,and gnashing of teeth…and those sounds were coming from me…I can’t think of a scenario where I would try MRC again.
Yes, they all seem to come out of the box on max volume, toy train style. For a public venue club show (we’re modular and go to different palces) I tend to crank them up, or you can;t hear the sound from even 2 feet away. At home I turn them way down. If one side of my room is supposed to represent a place 15 miles away from the other side, you shouldn’t be able to hear the locos working on the opposite side of the room.